half of photo black at 1/400s - shutter trouble?

[DXM]

A while ago I purchased an Canon EOS 30D, it has worked absolutely marvelous up until today. I was to shoot some product photos for an ad and I noticed that at shutter speeds higher than 1/300s some shading of the lower part of the picture occurred and above 1/400s it took out most of the image.

I've had similar trouble with my EOS 10D, although that trusty old dinosaour had more than 30 000 exposures to it's name. My 30D only has about 3000, and the shutter shouldn't really start giving out until at around 10-15 000 exposures.

Does anyone have any thoughts or insights about this? I really wouldn't want to have to send it away for repairs as it would set me back about €250 (appx. $330).

At the moment I am recharging the battery to full to see if that has any impact but any inside knowledge or experience about this would be greatly appreciated.

[DXM]

Okay, I panicked... my bad.

What I had failed to remember was that the sync speed when using studio flashes doesn't really work above 1/125-1/160s.

I did find out however some valuable things, among others I found a list of approximated lifespans of the different Canon EOS models.



Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS / 1000D not disclosed
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi / 450D not disclosed
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi / 400D 50,000
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT / 350D 50,000
Canon EOS 50D 100,000
Canon EOS 40D 100,000
Canon EOS 30D 100,000
Canon EOS 20D 50,000
Canon EOS 5D 100,000
Canon EOS 1D Mark III 300,000
Canon EOS 1D Mark II N 200,000
Canon EOS 1DS Mark III 300,000
Canon EOS 1DS Mark II 200,000

this might be of use to someone.
and now I stand here with egg on my face looking like a complete n00b ^_^

[Doug Nelson]

Not at all, you've gotten experience and you'll never forget it again

And thanks for posting your findings.

[Big Mike]

Don't sweat it...it's a common question.

Those shutter ratings are basically an 'average rate of failure'. So your shutter won't self destruct the minute it goes past its rating...but it may also fail much sooner. Don't worry about it.

[DXM]

Stress really isn't conducive to organized thought... at least not for me. Learning is good though, whatever the reason. Standing with egg on ones face teaches humility and apparently I needed a hefty helping of that. I got overconfident and as I messed upp I subsequently panicked... oh well, you live and you learn.

I also came to the conclusion that I really ought to show my 10D some tlc and send it for repair, as soon as I can afford it that is.

[HuBBa]

And speaking of sync speeds, might be good to know that allthough your sync speed may be stated to be say 1/250 this is for CABLE only. Most radio slaves/triggers add additional delays so if you shoot at 1/250 you may get dark shadows near the edge of the shutter (usually one side of the image) and have to go down to 1/200 or slower.

Took me some time to figure out it was the pocketwizards that weren't fast enough for 1/250.th so thought it might be good to know so no one else have to wonder about it Oh and different brands of radio sync have different max sync speeds aswell.

Oh and my 50D just turned its 19000:th frame since mid-october last year

[DXM]

shot with radio triggers and then you have to calculate at around 1/125-1/160, possibly up to 1/200...

I think I already said that...

Anyway congrats on you cam turning 19k. my 10D was getting ooooold. Have been working so much I haven't had the time to shoot that much with my 30D... barely turned teen a month ago

[HuBBa]

Well the max sync speed will be determined by the slowest factor. If this is the radio trigger or the camera is irrelevant, just as long as you know which is the slowest, this will be the speed you must shoot at.

Some radiosync systems can go quite high (normal pocketwizards at 1/200 max) but some cheaper brands can go as low as 1/125 max sync. If you shoot faster than that, bad things may happen with the image =) Oh and btw, a 5D mk1/mk2 syncs normally at 1/200, but this is with cable, so you will need to go down to 1/160 to get a proper sync even with pocket-wizards.

And the 19k is pretty much but i shoot between 3-5 sessions / week and have been constantly since october. Then the acctuations pile up fast =)